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Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey announced today the promotions of Dean Cooper to Vice President of Player Personnel and Gersson Rosas to Director of Scouting for the Rockets.

“Dean has played a vital role in the success of the Rockets over many years,” said Morey. “He has valuable experience in all aspects of the organization. The Rockets are fortunate to have him as a key member of our staff going forward. Gersson has been performing at a high level in his position for some time and his promotion is recognition of the important role he will continue to play.”

In his new role, Cooper will be responsible for the evaluation of draft prospects, free agents and potential trades. He will also oversee the coordination of national and international scouting activities. Cooper enters his ninth season with the Rockets after working the past three years as the team’s Director of Scouting. In his first five years with Houston, Cooper served as video coordinator/scout for two seasons, assistant coach for two campaigns, and NBA personnel scout for a year. In addition to the Rockets, Cooper is an active camp director in the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders program.

“I want to thank Owner Leslie Alexander and Daryl Morey for the opportunity to move forward as a Rocket,” said Cooper on his promotion. “I’ve learned a lot from Daryl in the short time we’ve worked together and look forward to working with him on the continued success of the organization. I also appreciate the tutelage of Carroll Dawson and his staff who taught me the ‘Rocket Way’ of strong ideals, measures and processes.”

Before joining the Rockets, Cooper coached four years at the college level. He worked for two years as an assistant coach at his alma mater of Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, before taking a similar role at the University of Buffalo for two seasons. While at Aquinas, he also served in an advance scouting role for the Connecticut Pride of the Continental Basketball Association for one season. Cooper started his coaching career at a pair of Michigan high schools, spending five years at Belding High School and three years at Caledonia High School.

Rosas is elevated into his new position after serving the past three seasons as Personnel Video Coordinator. Prior to his time as Personnel Video Coordinator, Rosas was the head coach of the Global Games Prep USA Team during the summer of 2004. His team of top prep players 18-and-under not participating with Team USA consisted of Gerald Green (Minnesota Timberwolves) and C.J. Miles (Utah Jazz) among other participants. Rosas’ experience includes work as a graduate assistant for the men’s basketball team at the University of Houston (2003-04), as an assistant coach at Westbury Christian High School (2002-03) and as a basketball coordinator for the Venezuelan Basketball Federation during the 2002 World Basketball Championships. Rosas, who began his career in scouting as an intern for the Rockets in 2001-02, has also been a camp coach in the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders program (2006-07) and at the Reebok RBKU Camp (2006-07).

“Gersson has proven to be an essential member of our staff,” added Cooper. “His contributions have been instrumental to the success of basketball operations.”

In addition to the promotions, the Rockets have named Phil Jabour as Personnel Video Coordinator. Jabour had been working as an intern with the team’s scouting staff prior to his hire.